Authored by Group
Dec. 1, 2009

Walking back to East Campus from the Student Center at around 6:30 yesterday morning, I stumbled across a banner crumpled on the steps outside 77 Massachusetts Avenue that looked like it was meant to be stretched across the pillars there. It looked at first glance like part of your average failed hack, but I quickly realized this failed hack was a little more Californian than average.

Johnny R. Williams, 30, would appear to be an unlikely person to have to fret about the impact of race on his job search, with companies like JPMorgan Chase and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago on his resume.

Authored by Group
Dec. 1, 2009

The first annual ‘Know Your Status’ HIV Testing Day is happening today from 12–2 p.m. on the 3rd floor of the Student Center. Tests are done with oral swabs and each appointment takes about thirty minutes, said Kate McCarthy, program manager for sexual health and the organizer of the event. Most of the thirty spots available are reserved, but if space is available walk-ins will be accepted, McCarthy said.

Authored by Group
Dec. 1, 2009

Authored by Group
Dec. 1, 2009

<i>The following incidents were reported to the Campus Police between October 30 and November 12. The dates below reflect the dates incidents occurred. This information is compiled from the Campus Police’s crime log. The report does not include alarms, general service calls, or incidents not reported to the dispatcher.</i>

More than six and a half years after the U.S.-led invasion here that many believed was about oil, the major oil companies are finally gaining access to Iraq’s petroleum reserves. But they are doing so at far less advantageous terms than they once envisioned.

The White House said Monday that President Barack Obama had issued orders to send thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan, relaying his decision to military leaders late Sunday afternoon during a meeting in the Oval Office.

The Congressional Budget Office said Monday that the Senate health bill could significantly reduce costs for many people who buy health insurance on their own, and that it would not substantially change premiums for the vast numbers of Americans who receive coverage from large employers.

The outside world may be focused on Iran’s intensifying confrontation with the West over its nuclear program. But at home, Iranians are more concerned with an ambitious and risky new effort to overhaul the country’s troubled economy.

Ten journalists and 48 officials have been charged with taking bribes to cover up a mining disaster last year, according to a report published on Monday in China Daily, an official English-language newspaper.

The search for a man suspected of fatally shooting four uniformed officers south of Tacoma, Wash., expanded to this city and beyond on Monday with a flurry of police sweeps and SWAT team investigations. Details also emerged that the suspect had told people that he planned to “shoot some cops,” the police said.

Weather certainly has its ups and downs, and the last two months have been no exception. Comparing October and November as a whole for Massachusetts, October’s mean temperature ranked in the 18th percentile while November’s mean temperature will most likely rank around the 95th percentile. In fact, the temperatures at both Logan Airport and our campus weather station have yet to dip below freezing this autumn. The latest freeze in recorded history at Logan Airport was December 2nd in 1975 and we have a good chance of breaking that record, though it will be close call this morning.

Over the past few weeks anonymous “hackers” entered the computer systems of the Climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia in the UK. This intrusion has been confirmed by the university and at least some of the data leaked to Wikileaks.org have been confirmed as authentic by officials at the CRU. Among the data were hundreds of e-mails and source code files which describe a shameful corruption of the scientific process.

Authored by Group
Dec. 1, 2009

An article Tuesday about MIT’s Rhodes Scholarship winners incorrectly claimed that MIT broke its record for the most Rhodes Scholars in a given year. MIT did not break that record this year, but this year’s three winners did break the record for the most MIT Rhodes Scholars from the U.S. in a year.

Authored by Group
Dec. 1, 2009

As I am sure you are aware, the University of East Anglia’s computer system was hacked and many e-mails by prominent weather researchers have been published. Some of these are extremely disturbing. They appear to document collusion among leaders in the field to alter and then withhold raw data and to stonewall Freedom of Information requests regarding analytical methods. Anecdotal reports of moving weather stations to lower altitudes in California and Japan are also emerging. Most disturbing, these e-mails appear to document a concerted effort to undermine the peer review process.

Authored by Group
Dec. 1, 2009

A mere three weeks after the first Eastern Collegiate Taekwondo Conference tournament, the MIT Sport Taekwondo Club traveled to Cornell University to compete in the second tournament of the year on Saturday, November 7. Despite facing a twenty-man disadvantage against rival Cornell University, the team finished in second place.

Authored by Group
Dec. 1, 2009

Alexandra T. May ’10 was voted to the Academic All-America Volleyball First Team last week. May was selected as an Academic All-American Third Team last year, and joins Amanda Morris ’08 as the only First-Teams in program history. Her selection is the team’s 14th award and raised MIT’s institutional tally to 158, tops among Division III programs.

Following their NCAA Tournament run this season, several MIT Field Hockey players earned regional accolades. Molly E. McShane ’13 was selected as the New England East Regional Player of the Year and a Second Team All-American by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA). In addition, teammates Keri A. Dixon ’11, Anna H. Teruya ’12 and Kimberly A. Barker ’13 were named to the NFHCA All-Region teams.

If you asked me what possibly could have compelled me to stay up until five in the morning to trudge through Cambridge for a Black Friday sale, I would have given you exactly two reasons. One is the age-old excuse, “my friends were doing it.” The other is that I managed to justify it to my nerd self by going to the electronics store first. A few DVDs, a set of Rock’em Sock’em Robots, and more self-restraint than any human should ever have to exercise later, here I am pondering the significance of the experience.

By
Laila Shabir<i> </i>
Dec. 1, 2009

It’s 4 a.m. on a Wednesday morning, and I want to paint. I haven’t had an urge this strong to reach for my brush and palette in a long, long time. And I haven’t been this swamped with work in a long, long time. Psets, midterms, make-up midterms, quizzes, make-up quizzes (I was sick for a while), essentially make-up on all my to-do lists. Oh, and “e-mails requesting extensions.” My only concern (while rearranging items on my to-do list) is, when do I get to absorb all this new information and to let it really sink in? When and how do I reflect on my newly acquired knowledge and think of real world applications?

By
Erdin Beshimov<i> </i>
Dec. 1, 2009

Many students come to MIT Sloan not because of the business school itself, but because they want to be part of the MIT community at large. I was one of those students, and I wanted to apply what I learned in the classroom by working side by side with outstanding engineers on bringing new technologies to market. To me, that seemed like a great way to prepare for and anticipate the future evolution of business and society, as opposed to treating business school as just a springboard for a job.